Why Your April Horoscope Is So Out of Whack

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Much ado has been made about April by astrologers and amateur stargazers alike. And it's certainly an intense time in the cosmos. There are two change-making eclipses (on April 15 and 28), as well as the climax of a Grand Cardinal Cross—four-way faceoff—between Jupiter, Pluto, Uranus and Mars. These four planetary players are all pretty feisty, and on April 23 they will each be stationed at 13 degrees in leadership-driven Cardinal signs. (For a comprehensive explanation, see our post at Astrostyle.com.)

A Grand Cross consists of two pairs of opposing planets (the formation looks like a cross shape), all of which are at harsh, 90-degree angles to each other. It's much like a tense summit of hardline world leaders, each one holding a strict party line. Nobody wants to bend, but compromise is mandated.

In your own life, this could look like a much needed D-day (decision day). If you're spread too thin or pulled in too many directions—and who isn't these days?—the Grand Cross will force you to prioritize. This is catalyzed by the page-turning April 15 total lunar eclipse, which pushes us off the wishy-washy fence. It's time to pick a team, commit, and own it. Let go of anything "meh," draining or downright toxic. Make way for clarity and renewed purpose. The Grand Cross reminds us that the days are long but the years are short—now, what are you gonna do with yours?

For the Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), the Grand Cross will also touch the Cardinal (1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th) houses of your chart. Cardinal means essential or fundamental, so this cosmic event is all about rebalancing the primary areas of your life: self versus others, family/home versus career. Your nature is to be leadership oriented, and even a bit of a dictator or a diva at times. But your command may not be the universe's wish, especially if you're trying to control, well, everything. Retire from your self-created role as (Micro)manager of All Things and People. You can't please everyone. It's time to nudge the baby birds out of the nest—and oh, to stop using their flailing wings as an excuse not to fly yourself.

The areas of your life that are affected:

First House: Self, personal identity and goals

Fourth House: Home, family

Seventh House: Relationships

Tenth House: Career

In April, you'll be pushed to examine which of these areas is out of balance. The first opposition, between the domestic fourth house and professional tenth house, is all about calibrating emotional versus practical needs. Are you spending too much time at the office at the expense of your nearest and dearest? Or on the flipside, are you sacrificing your success in order to appease a loved one? You may need to make decisions that help create a better work-life balance. Perhaps it's time to find a home that's closer to your job so you can cut down your commute, or to relocate from a metropolis to a mid-size city for better quality of life. You might need to put up clearer boundaries with a relative, or deal with an issue involving one or both of your parents.

The second opposition is between the first house of self and the seventh house of relationships. Cardinal signs are strong individuals, and you need a proper outlet to express that. Yet, you also need an eager and appreciative audience, so make sure you're treating your significant other or closest comrades right! If you've gone to the opposite extreme and sacrificed your individual needs to keep the peace, this Grand Cross could snap you out of a codependent daze. Balancing "me" time and "we" time is the key.

If you are a Fixed sign of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio or Aquarius, the Grand Cross is in the mutable (adaptable) houses of your solar chart 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th). Fixed signs are the builders of the zodiac, who stake out their terrain and set up an empire, brick by brick. While you are loyal, dutiful, and diligent, you can also get stuck in a rut, staying in one spot long after the expiration date. This intense aspect is pushing you to become more flexible, especially in areas where your normally stubborn sign tends to dig in your heels. If your opinions, lifestyle, and attitude have become too entrenched, the Grand Cross will shake you out of stagnation, teaching you the difference between tenacity and plain old self-sabotage. Cue The Clash: Should you stay or should you go? The houses touched by the Grand Cross deal with issues of communication and health/wellness.

The first opposition is between your sensible third house of everyday communication and local affairs, and your worldly ninth house of big plans and ideas. You're dreaming big—and maybe talking big, too—but you need to back it all up with hard data and research. Gather the facts before you leap into new terrain or promise more than you can deliver. Someone could enter your life with exciting promised and offers that sound almost too good to be true. Are they? Time and research will tell.

The second faceoff is between your orderly and health-driven sixth house and your holistic twelfth house of closure and surrender. A big part of you will want guarantees: to wrangle your life, your schedule and even your loved ones into a neat little ten-year plan. Yet, every effort to force an outcome could backfire, leaving you frustrated unless you get the bigger spiritual message. Know when to hold 'em, and when to make like Adele Dazeem and "let it go, let it go." Your subconscious and psychic receptors are at an all-time high, so pay attention to dreams, coincidences (such as seeing repeating numbers on a clock like 11:11) and winks from the universe. On the other hand, if you're relying TOO heavily on fate, luck, and chance, you might also need to make a plan. Crunch some numbers, organize your workspace, prep yourself for a miracle. Explore the mind-body-soul connection and co-create your dreams with the divine.

For the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces), the Grand Cross will touch on the "fixed" houses of your chart, forcing you to release any stubbornness and unhealthy attachments in some areas, and to set clearer boundaries in others. Your mutable (adaptable) nature is to be flexible and go with the flow, but when you're too breezy, you can get scattered. (Or as the old cliché goes, if you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything.) The Grand Cross is teaching you to be more selective, and even to say "no" to offers that aren't a great match—which will allow you to say "yes" to others.

The areas of your life that are affected:

Second House: Money, work, confidence, security

Fifth House: Passion, drama, romance

Eighth House: Wealth, shared resources, power, control

Eleventh House: Detachment, groups, friendship

The first opposition involves the money houses: your security-seeking second house of daily income versus your intense eighth house of shared assets and intimacy. The stable second house is making you seek experiences and commitments that are built to last. Yet, your touch-the-flame eighth house is stirring up the urge to sabotage your newfound security by going after intense power plays, sexual attractions, or other thrill-seeking pursuits. As a change-seeking mutable sign, you do need variety—but is there a way to avoid feeling stagnant that doesn't set you back so far? You'll also want to pay attention to money: what it symbolizes, the feelings about power it invokes, and how much you're using it for instant gratification or long-term investment. Are you falling into a materialistic trap, or avoiding your deeper emotions with retail therapy?

The second faceoff is between your dramatic, "in the now" fifth house and your detached, future-focused eleventh house. One minute, you're getting all wrapped up in the most intense emotions; the next, you're cool as a cucumber. You may also be exhausting your friends with dramas and emotional highs and lows, even intense temper flare-ups or emotional outbursts (Who, you? Crying jag out of nowhere?). Validate your emotions, but also find ways to release them, whether that means venting to friends, joining a support group (yes, you) or even playing team sports. As some say, "e-motion" is energy in motion. Circulate those intense feelings through physical activity.

For full details on how the Grand Cross will affect your individual sign, read your monthly horoscope.